jolly good !

’ don’t get in my way. ’

‘ being assigned to the same mission doesn’t make us friends. ’

‘ don’t play friendly with me. ’

‘ i work alone. ’

‘ try to keep up. ’

‘ do what you want. i’m not going to babysit you. ’

‘ it’s my mission, i’m in charge. ’

‘ follow my lead. ’

‘ i’m following you. ’

‘ i have never heard such a stupid plan. ’

‘ great. you’re going to get us all killed. ’

‘ thanks for the advice. ’

‘ watch yourself! ’

‘ got your six. ’

‘ i’ve got your back. ’

‘ try not to die! or do, i don’t care. ’

‘ don’t get blood on my floor. ’

‘ can you attract any more attention to us!? ’

‘ this was supposed to be a stealth mission. ’

‘ they didn’t tell me i’d be working with an idiot. ’

‘ i hate this just as much as you, but we have to see this through. ’

‘ i’m not doing this for you. ’

‘ i’m just following orders. ’

‘ stay with me! ’

‘ let’s not make a habit of this. ’

‘ you could’ve gotten yourself killed. ’

‘ pay attention. ’

‘ if it comes between you or the mission, i’m choosing the mission. without question. ’

‘ i will leave you behind. ’

‘ i’m not leaving you behind. ’

‘ you started this thing with me, you’re ending it with me. ’

‘ we make a pretty good team. ’

‘ maybe we should do this more often. ’

‘ when this mission started, i didn’t like you… still don’t. ’

‘ you’re not so bad yourself. ’

‘ try me. ’

aka i really love the energy of this dynamic, but unfortunately this whole effort turned into me typing down actual dialogue that happened in my car while my poor father tried to teach me how to drive. but they make for fun threads! bon appetit!

from the mentor.

“ you’re doing it wrong. ”

“ would you like me to show you how to do it? ”

“ that… that’s not how you do it. ”

“ maybe this mentoring stuff requires patience that i don’t have. ”

“ keep doing it like that, and you’ll end up hurting yourself. ”

“ correct me if i’m wrong, but that’s not how i showed you to do it, is it? ”

“ okay, alright, look at me. you looking? do it exactly like i’m doing it. ”

“ move your feet, come on, you’ve got to move if you don’t want to end up flat on your ass again! ”

“ look… it’s progress, yeah? you’re better than you were before. ”

“ don’t beat yourself up; it’s a tricky move, nobody gets it right the first time. ”

“ okay, let’s… let’s try a different tactic. ”

“ you’re overthinking it. don’t think; just be in the moment. ”

“ stop, stop… alright. looking back on what you’ve just done, what do you think i’m going to say? ”

“ there’s definitely plenty of room for improvement. ”

“ ah… god, okay, don’t cry… it’s not as bad as it looks, you’re really not as bad at this as you think! ”

“ we’ll get there together. ”

“ okay. time for a break, yeah? let’s stop for now, catch a breath, we can come back to it later. ”

“ you obviously don’t enjoy any of this; why do you want me to teach you so badly? ”

“ i could teach you, if you’d like? ”

“ come on, like i showed you, remember? ”

“ feet apart, hands up; anticipate your opponent’s movements! ”

“ alright… don’t think about getting hit. this isn’t a fight. it’s a dance. you move in response and in anticipation of your opponent. ”

“ who the hell taught you to do that?! ”

“ that wasn’t terrible! you didn’t butcher it this time! ”

“ wake up. wake up, come on, up and at ‘em. you said you wanted to learn, so come on. up you get! ”

“ that was good! hell, that was brilliant! you knocked me off my feet! good job! ”

“ you need to stop worrying about hurting me. you gonna apologize and pay the hospital bills of whatever bad guy you go against next time? ”

“ i’m proud of you. ”

“ you’re doing great! “

from the mentee

“ can you teach me how to do that? “

“ i did it! “

“ okay, there’s no need to be dramatic, i wasn’t that bad! “

“ i AM trying. “

“ oh god, oh, i’m so sorry! did i hurt you? “

“ i need your help with this. okay? i can’t do this alone. “

“ you’re the expert, right? “

“ i’ve seen you fight; i wanna be as good as you! “

“ people’s lives are at stake if i lose. their blood’s gonna be on my hands, and it’ll be on yours, too, if you don’t help me. “

“ quit yelling at me, i’m trying my best! “

“ i’m doing it exactly like you told me to, and i’m still not getting it right. “

“ i don’t need a break! i need to keep going until i get this right! “

“ show me how you did it. “

“ i don’t know how. and you do. all i’m asking is for a few hours of training… please? “

“ that’s it. i quit! “

“ you’re a terrible teacher, you know that? “

“ you said you’d teach me. and i’m here to learn. so let’s go already. “

“ what’s the point?! i’m useless at this! “